Archive for May, 2005

Monday, 5/2/05
Monday May 2 2005 @ 10:54 pm

- I’m about a week behind on this, so if it’s a little threadbare, you’re gonna have to excuse me, as I’ve forgotten stuff.

- Wake up to a face-licking by Scully. I head upstairs, let the dogs out, take a leak, then head to my office to update the blog, check email, and work on the Rolling Stone “Vader” piece.

- Jen gets Harley ready, and since Byron and Gail aren’t back from Big Bear yet, I drop her off at school and grab some McDonald’s for Jen and I. While I’m in the parking lot, I do a phone-in with Sarah and Matty on the Alice Morning Show for a post-mortem on our weekend radio gig. What was gonna be ten minutes turns into forty five, and we talk about a bunch of stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with the Saturday night show, including a poignant story about JLo and an unfortunate lack of toilet paper.

- I head back home and get to work in my office. I IM back and forth with a few folks, including Ming – who relates the post-”Sith” review traffic info. He tells me to Google “Kevin Smith Sith Review” and see all the links already out there. I do, and notice that there’s one to RottenTomatoes.com. I click on it and find a message board – which is news to me, as I never knew Rotten Tomatoes to be anything more than a site that collects reviews. I read the thread and find, amidst a bunch of positive and negative comments about me and the reivew, a post from some jackass who’s spouting off completely untrue bullshit about the box office of my flicks. So I put aside the Rolling Stone article to compose a response.

Here is said response (inclusive of the original post)…
****************************

Raziel wrote:
Originally Posted by Raziel
A couple of things….
1) Kevin Smith’s review of EPIII can only be regarded as biased.

This is true. While it should probably go without saying, yes – my take on “Sith” is tainted by the fact that I like all the “Star Wars” films.

Raziel wrote:
He has gushed over EPI and EPII in the past and we know what happened with those films.

We do: those films were liked by some and not liked by others. This represented a development heretofore never recorded in over 100 years of cinema history.

Raziel wrote:
And aside from his zealot like devotion to the franchise, Kevin Smith has pretty poor taste in films.

I can’t argue with this, as taste in film (and everything else in life) is pretty subjective. Yes, I’ve liked some pretty crappy flicks (“The Cutting Edge” is in my top 200). However, if this helps anyone get a better idea of the stuff I’m into, my top five favorite films of all time (in no particular order) are “Jaws”, “JFK”, “A Man for All Seasons”, “Do the Right Thing”, and “The Last Temptation of Christ”. The next three would be “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, “Citizen Kane”, “Jerry Maguire”. I’m still trying to figure out the last two to round off my top ten. Curiously, there are no “Star Wars” films in what is, thus far, the top eight.

Raziel wrote:
The man hasnt been able to create a decent film in years.

Also extremely subjective. That part about me being a man, I mean.

However, some (like me) could debate the poster’s take on whether or not I’ve made a decent film “in years” or not. While the poster may not harbor any affection for my recent body of work, I can point him to a website full of people who’d disagree with him, or critics (both in print and on the web) who’d follow suit. In truth, it’s probably more likely that the poster – a one Raziel, which I’m assuming is a ‘net handle, because said poster feels the need to shield his secret identity from enemies who’d seek to do his loved ones harm – hasn’t made a decent film (or any film, for that matter) in years, while I (like every filmmaker who’s come before me and every filmmaker who’ll come after me) have made films that have been considered to be shit by some and decent by others.

Raziel wrote:
His films combined have lost more money than they have grossed.

This is where the poster reveals him or herself (oh, fuck it – it’s gotta be a guy; no woman could be this petty and sad) to be full of shit, because this statement is patently untrue.

“Clerks”
Cost: $27,575, Theatrical Gross: $3.1 million, VHS (DVD figures not available): $6.169 mill

“Mallrats”
Cost: $6 million, Theatrical Gross: $2.1 million, DVD: Universal declines to issue figures, but Colleen Benn at Universal Home Video says, very coyly “Let’s put it this way; we’re doing a second version of the DVD. We only do that with titles that sell a lot. ‘Fast Times’, ‘Animal House’, ‘Jaws’, now ‘Mallrats’.”

“Chasing Amy:
Cost: $250,000, Theatrical Gross: $12 million, DVD: $12 million

“Dogma”
Cost: $10 million, Theatrical Gross: $30 million, DVD: Col/Tri declines to give financial figures, but Michael Stradford informs me that they shipped 800,000 of the standard edition of the DVD, and over 300,000 of the Special Edition, one year later.

“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”
Cost: $20 million, Theatrical Gross: $30 million, DVD: $38.5 million

“Jersey Girl”
Cost: $35 million, Theatrical Gross: $25 million, DVD: Financials not available, but Miramax Home Video head Shannon McIntosh informs me that we shipped over half a million units in the first week.

Even when you factor in P&A and marketing costs, it doesn’t require (good) Will Hunting to do the math and see that the poster’s statement that my films have “lost more money than they have grossed” is an ignorant crock of shit.

Raziel wrote:
Smith is also rumored to be be involved in the upcoming SW TV series project. DO you honestly think he would jeopardize his involvement with this by posting a bad or medoicre review of EPIII??? I dont think so.

Perhaps. Or before Fox Mulder here works himself into a frenzy with his conspiracy theory, might I suggest that if I, indeed, didn’t like the flick, that I simply wouldn’t have posted about seeing it in the first place.

See, in my world, if I don’t like something, I try not to call attention to it. If I feel something sucks, I don’t waste my time writing about it, unless I’m getting paid to state my opinion on the subject, or unless I’m asked about my take on it specifically (as with the “Magnolia” incident on my website, eons ago). The way-cool named Raziel holds forth on the subject of me and my flicks (even though, as he’d lead you to believe, he’s not a fan) and as far as I know, nobody asked him his opinion, and he’s not getting paid to offer it. This leads me to believe that Raziel – bad-ass name that, no-doubt, impresses chicks nothwithstanding – has a lot of free time on his hands; free time that would be better spent producing something rather than attempting to belittle those who do produce, or, say, chasing pussy. But no – here he sits, poo-pooing this film or that, as time marches on, bringing him ever closer to the grave and a legacy of invective-layered posts on a website.

Raziel wrote:
Smith is not a good candidate to use as a borometer for this film.

True enough – just as Raziel is not a good candidate for master speller (bator? yes; speller? No).

Raziel wrote:
I’d wait until an unbiased review is posted…

Wait for what, exactly, I find myself wondering?

Raziel wrote:
Or even better, watch the movie yourself and create your own opinion.

Finally, a glimmer of intelligence from our hero.

Raziel wrote:
Also, as pointed out by someone else, what the hell is up with all the “Darkness” crap?? “This is going to be the darkest SW yet!”, The ones darker than the last one!”….What is this??? Who cares if it’s darker or not. Does “darkness” guarantee a quality film???

No. And yet, nobody maintained that “darkness” guaranteed a quality film. Raziel responds to an idea that nobody put forward, apparently falling into debate with himself.

Again, folks – I can’t make anyone love me or the movies I’ve made (and will continue to make, long after the fire in the belly of the twelve year old Raziel subsides). However, I can correct misinformation like Raziel’s loopy and uninformed take on the box office of the films I’ve made. Even though some would consider it a waste of my time, I’ve always felt that if I can’t spare a few minutes to show up the jackasses in life, I’m not living to my fullest potential.

Yours,

Kevin Smith

For When Raziel’s like “That wasn’t Kevin Smith…”

****************************************

- When I’m done with that, I write about 750 words for the Rolling Stone piece and then email it to Jim, the Rolling Stone editor, to see if it’s what he’s looking for.

- Jen puts Harley down on our couch while I continue working in my office. I put on Harley’s sleeping music, and Jen heads upstairs. Harley’s not sleepy in the least, so we chit-chat a bit until the phone rings. It’s Byron, telling me they’re pulling up outside. Harley asks who it was, and I tell her Nana and Poppy are home. She asks if she can come downstairs to see them, and I say yeah. We get downstairs and Byron’s immobile in the back of the truck. When he throws his back out like this, everything except laying down hurts him. Harley takes Louis’ leash, and Byron rolls the the edge of the back of the SUV. He leans on me and we slowly make our way into their room and get him up on the bed. Gail intercoms Jen upstairs while I park and unload the truck.

- I head to Rite Aid to grab a urinal and bed pan for the bed-ridden Byron, just in case he’s in too much pain to get up ’til he gets in to see the doctor. I also grab some Carl’s Jr. for him and Gail, and some chocolate (for the period-ravaged Jen).

- I get back home, give Byron his gear and his cheeseburger and head upstairs, thinking about how comfort food really lives up to its name – as Byron rarely eats cheeseburgers (he’s a health-nut), but was pretty happy to suck one down tonight, to take his mind off the pain. Upstairs, I give Gail her cheeseburger and Jen her chocolate and fries. The girls chit-chat while I suck back my chicken breast and the dogs look on, jealous. Gail heads downstairs, and Jen and I watch some tube while I respond to posts on the RottenTomatoes.com forum. I head to the bathroom downstairs and continue answering posts for awhile.

This is the archived thread (that RottenTomatoes.com deleted, for some unknown reason)…

When I get out of the bathroom, Jen’s downstairs and in bed already. I climb in bed beside her and continue posting ’til three, outlasting everyone else in the forum and responding to every question before finally going to sleep.

Previous Page Next Page